Thread: help the newbie

I am new to the world of straight razor's. I have only used one twice but I think they are alot of fun and are obviously bad ass. That is what got me into them in the first place. But anyway my question is, or rather my questions are, what is a good shave soap,brush,,aftershave, strop and all that good stuff.But I am on a budget so please keep that in mind. Also where can I find good razors for a fair price? Right now I just have the cheapest dovo I could find on ClassicShaving.com. Thanks for all your help.

Welcom to SRP!

The cheapest DOVO is a good enough razor to start with. Any brush will do. I am very happy with a boar brush and use that. When I was on a budget I used cheap and cheerful Gilette or Palmolive cream in tube, not the spray can stuff. For a strop contact Tony Miller (member here). I use Vergulde Hand A/S cream but that may be hard to get outside of the Netherlands and Belgium.

It needn't be expensive unless you get caught by one of the acquisition disorders.

Good luck.

Kenrup will fill your shaving needs

Originally Posted by hydrahead8883

That is what got me into them in the first place. But anyway my question is, or rather my questions are, what is a good shave soap,brush,,aftershave, strop and all that good stuff.But I am on a budget so please keep that in mind. Also where can I find good razors for a fair price? Right now I just have the cheapest dovo I could find on ClassicShaving.com. Thanks for all your help.

I guess I'll just repeat the previous posts, with a bit of modification - almost any brush should do fine, and if it costs $5 and start shedding after few shaves you won't feel so bad. The tweezerman brush is the cheapest badger one at about $10-15. Soaps - I like colleen's soaps at Shaving, Bath and Body, Skincare, Home Fragrance, Brushes, Creams, Soaps, but if you have truefitt&hill their soap is great too. Soap is rather cheap, so even if you pay $10-15 that'll last me (and presumably you) a year or so. Of course if you can't afford that much, the $1-$2 shaving soaps at walmart or your local convenience store will do just fine. Strops - Tony Miller at The Well Shaved Gentleman, Heirloom Razor Strop Company, Straight Razor Shaving Supplier or Kenrup makes inexpensive strop.
As far as razors go - I'd suggest that if you are new and on a budget you restrict yourself to at most 2 razors (one as backup). The cheapest quality razors would be on the B/S/T section here. Unless you want a new razor in which case it's either classicshaving or the DoubleArrow & Wapienica razors (get them either on ebay or from the few members here who sell them prehoned).
Hope this helps.

Originally Posted by gugi

Soaps - I like colleen's soaps at Shaving, Bath and Body, Skincare, Home Fragrance, Brushes, Creams, Soaps, but if you have truefitt&hill their soap is great too. Soap is rather cheap, so even if you pay $10-15 that'll last me (and presumably you) a year or so. Of course if you can't afford that much, the $1-$2 shaving soaps at walmart or your local convenience store will do just fine.

I've found the van der Hagen soaps (~$2 at Rite-Aid or Wal*Mart, I recommend the "deluxe" as it has the most moisturizers) to be more comfortable and more lubricating than some $20 fancy soaps I've tried. If you're looking to start cheap, this can be a great place to save some money, and then by the time you start to run out on your first puck and might want to branch out you'll have had time to peruse the forums and get a better feel for what's out there and what people like.

edit: +1 to what follows from bad4dr; Nivea is fabulous stuff.

For a great aftershave, go to the drugstore and pick up a bottle of Nivea for Men. It's in the same section as the razor blades and the Skin Bracer and whatnot. I paid $5 for mine. It comes in a nice glass bottle, it has a nice clean fragrance that doesn't overpower cologne, and it WORKS! I have a bottle of T&H 1805 aftershave (not cheap), and it doesn't work any better than the Nivea stuff. Just use it sparingly; you only need a drop the size of a pea in the palm of your hand.

Welcome to SRP!

PM me with your full name and addy and I'll send a box with some goodies to you. I've got a tube of George F. Trumper Coconut shave cream about 60% full, a tube of Palmolive shave cream that is about 80% full and a Delong silvertip badger brush used less than a dozen times.




btw, good buy on the Dovo, I own quite a few and am very happy with the shave that I get from all of them!

^^^^^^^ Eric is the man!!!

Originally Posted by gugi

^^^^^^^ Eric is the man!!!

+1 this is a very hospitable online community.. i suppose it helps that razors and accessories are (relatively) inexpensive and they're inexpensive to ship, but i've seen more stuff and advise freely given to new people without arrogance that other hobbies have..

good job guys..

Thats very generous!!Im saving up for that stuff right now